As we do every week we have a new World Cafe: Next artist to introduce to you. Today it is The Stray Birds: multi-instrumentalists and vocalists Maya de Vitry, Oliver Craven, and Charlie Muench. They are an interweaving instrumental and vocal trio who came together in 2012 in Lancaster, PA. Well actually, as often happens, the members had known and played with each other for a while before that in that city’s tight-knit musical community. After releasing their first album, which was very well-received in folk circles, the band starting gigging extensively. One can only surmise that the travel has influenced the cohesiveness and inspired songwriting on the new album Bad Medicine. It will be released tomorrow on Yep Roc Records.

British Musician Dan Croll Sees His Debut Sweet Disarray As Almost a Mixtape!

English electro-pop musician Dan Croll is with us today. Dan's debut album is called Sweet Disarray and it is an apt title for an album that is rich stylistically . Dan even tells us that he envisioned it as almost a mixtape while he was working. Dan went to school for music at the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts which was founded by Paul McCartney. Dan was chosen from his classmates to meet Sir Paul and they actually exchanged musical ideas. We'll hear that story and a live set in the studio today.

April 28, 2014 Our World Cafe: Next band this week is one people mentioned when we traveled to Nashville for Sense of Place series. They are the now 5-piece band The Apache Relay. I was fond of their 2011 album American Nomad. Their new self-titled release took a while to get right with a couple of tries being scrapped along the way. We'll play you a couple of songs so you can hear the re-thinking and even download them as part of our World Cafe: Next podcast.

Vintage Cafe – Whistle Along With Peter, Bjorn and John And 2007's "Young Folks"

April 28, 2014 - Our Vintage Cafe today is a lot of fun. It is with the Swedish trio Peter, Bjorn and John and comes from 2007 when they released their 3rd album Writer's Block. That album contained "Young Folks" a song that became the whistle-along hit of the year. We'll hear performances of a number of the very fine songs from Writer's Block, "Young Folks" included.

Set List:
Let's Call the Whole Thing Off
Young Folks
Objects of My Affection
Amsterdam

Vintage Cafe – As We Wait For Slowdive’s First Tour In 20 Years We Revisit Session With Neil Halstead.

April 14, 2014 - Our Vintage Cafe session today with soft-spoken British singer-songwriter Neil Halstead originally aired in 2012 when he released the album Palindrome Hunches. The inspiration for reviving it comes from news that this summer Halstead's original band the shoegazey Slowdive are making their first appearances together in 20 years. The band ended in 1994 and Neil and Slowdive member Rachel Goswell went on to form Mojave 3 and Neal began to make solo albums. This session was recorded in front of a rapt audience of World Cafe Special Producers. There are some spell-binding performances.

Session Setlist
TIED TO YOU
DIGGING SHELTERS
WHO DO YOU LOVE
WITTGENSTEIN'S ARM
SPIN THE BOTTLE

May 20, 2013 - Taylor Goldsmith, the songwriter for the Los Angeles based band Dawes, writes heartfelt first-person songs somewhat in the style of his So Cal Laurel Canyon predecessors like Jackson Browne. In an exhaustive interview today with the Cafe’s Michaela Majoun he tells about the inspiration on many of the new songs on Stories Don't End.

The band’s new album was recorded across the country in Asheville, North Carolina, on the group’s own dime as they have decided to go independent and release their records themselves. Their last Nothing Is Wrong was a major success for the four-piece. It led to them opening for Mumford & Sons and others and building a strong fan base.

Dawes played an XPN Free At Noon in March and you can LISTEN to the full, live performance here. Dawes will play the XPoNential Music Festival this July on the waterfront in Camden at Wiggins Park!

Best of: Nick Cave On Push The Sky Away And Excerpts From Berlin Concert

December 30, 2013 - Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds are back, minus founding member Mick Harvey on guitar, with "Push The Sky Away." We are going to hear live performances recorded in Berlin this past February. The elegant yet emotive performer sounds great.

Cave has spent time over the last year working with Grinderman, a very different and much rawer way of approaching the muse than his work with the Bad Seeds. As Nick says: “It was the mistress that saved the marriage.“ Today he tells us how that experience ended up making the new album more direct.

The Australian singer, songwriter and actor talks about his early days in Melbourne, Australia, and how he only began to take music seriously after failing in his second year in art school. The same institution recently granted Nick an honorary degree.

Best of: How A Broken Leg, A 1930’s Graphic Novel And A New Studio All Lead To Jim James’ "Regions Of Light and Sound Of God"

December 30, 2013 - There have been albums under the name Yim Yames and projects with the New Multitudes and Monsters of Folk but Regions Of Light and Sound of God is the first bearing Jim James’ own name.

The My Morning Jacket front man has made a deep, spiritual, and romantic album for his first Jim James solo work. In a fascinating conversation he discusses how the theme of the early graphic novel "God’s Man" - moving from light to dark – paralleled his life following a stage accident in 2008 that left him bedridden. It led to songs on the new release. He also reveals his religious views and we find out the story behind that unwieldy title! Plus Jim has put together a stellar band to play the 70’s R&B influenced songs.

December 26, 2013 - The greatest singer Wales has ever produced, Tom Jones, has a new album called "Spirit In The Room." It is his second working with Ethan
Johns.

Jones turns his formidable voice to blues and gospel as well as the work of an array of songwriters including Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits and even The Low Anthem. Through his career Jones has had 36 Top 40 hits. His first was 1964’s “It’s Not Unusual” which remains his signature song. In a wide-ranging interview today we talk about growing up in Wales and a childhood bout with Tuberculosis that left the bed-ridden Jones to discover American music on the radio. He’ll also tell a few tales about Elvis.

For his outstanding Non-COMM set, incomparable crooner Tom Jones drew from his 2012 release Spirit in the Room, and then some Hitting on songs popularized by Johnny Cash, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and John Lee Hooker. Listen to Tom Jones’ performance from the 2013 NonCOMM in its entirety here.

September 3, 2013 - Houndmouth are a rootsy 4 piece rock band from New Albany, Indiana right across the river from Louisville, Kentucky.

In these days of loops, samples and all things digital a four–piece rock band with guitars, B-3 and all members singing is “folk music!” If you are like me you may find yourself initially thinking: “We’ve heard this kind of “Band-like” music before.” But reserve judgment. Because these guys and girls will seduce you with impeccable chops, harmonies and ultimately with their songs. They were signed by Rough Trade records which led to their debut From The Hills Below The City. They nailed their session with us as you will hear.